Cruz fires up the faithful at conservative conference

Rabble-rousing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz gave an impassioned stump speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, presenting himself as the truest Reagan Republican contender in the 2016 presidential race.

“How do we bring back the miracle that is America?” he asked a packed ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. “We reassemble the Reagan coalition.”

In 1980, Ronald Reagan appealed to the traditional GOP base, labor and Democrats and went on to serve two terms as president.

And then Cruz, without naming a single possible GOP competitor by name, painted himself as the outsider who could claim the mantle of most conservative. He became famous after his 21-hour Senate floor speech contributed to a partial government shutdown in 2013 and has made constant moves to upend GOP compromises in Congress.

“2016 looks like it’s going to be a crowded race,” said Cruz, who is exploring a presidential campaign but has not made an announcement.

“How do we differentiate? … In a campaign, every candidate says, ‘I’m the most conservative candidate that ever lived.’”

Quoting Scripture — “You shall know them by their fruit” — Cruz cautioned conservatives to “demand action, not talk.”

He listed a litany of issues with which he has been identified: Israel, Iran, Obamacare, the national debt, President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration, support for gun ownership. After each one, he said people need to ask the same thing: “When have you stood up and fought?”

“Talk is cheap,” Cruz said. “If you’re really a conservative, you will have been in the trenches, you will be bearing the scars.”

And alluding to his frequent run-ins with the Senate GOP leadership, he said: “If you had a candidate who stood against Democrats, that’s great. When have you been willing to stand against Republicans?

“I am convinced 2016 is going to be an election very much like 1980,” he said.

After his 20-minute speech, Cruz was asked a series of questions by Fox News host Sean Hannity, including the status of defunding the president’s executive actions on immigration.

“Unfortunately, the Republican leadership is cutting a deal with Harry Reid and Senate Democrats,” Cruz said. The Senate GOP is prepared to vote on a clean bill for funding the Homeland Security Department without any restrictions on the immigration actions.

Cruz made clear that he is the last Republican in the Senate who will be accommodating.

“What I’m trying to do more than anything else is to bring a disruptive act to politics,” he said.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a featured speaker Friday.

‘Grow a spine’

Cruz was hardly the only contender hitting hard on anti-Washington rhetoric.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal isn’t happy with some of his fellow Republicans in Washington, he made clear Thursday.

“It is time for our Republican leaders in Congress to grow a spine,” he said at the conference, pushing legislators to do more to resist Obama’s immigration policies. “It’s time for them to do the job we elected them to do.”

Jindal voiced a similar frustration with GOP lawmakers over their failure to beat back the Affordable Care Act.

“This troubles me greatly: At the same time that the Republicans in Washington are about to wave the white flag of surrender on amnesty, they’re about to wave the white flag of surrender on repealing Obamacare,” he said. “And I’m here to tell you, we’ve got to tell them we won’t stand for that.

“It is time for them to govern the way they campaigned and to get rid of Obamacare. We don’t need ‘Obamacare Lite,’” he said. “We don’t need a second Democratic Party. We don’t need the cheaper liberal Democrats. We need to be principled, conservative Republicans.”

Jindal also reminded conservatives of his shift on Common Core, from supporting Louisiana’s bid for Race to the Top funds to suing Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

“We need to remove Common Core from every classroom in America,” he said.

Also, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, surging in the early stages of the GOP presidential race, told the gathering that his battle with protesters in his state shows that he has the mettle to be commander in chief and keep the nation safe.

“I want a commander in chief who will do everything in their power to ensure that the threat from radical Islamic terrorists does not wash up on American soil,” Walker said.

In addition, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina muscled her way into the crowded field of Republicans with a blistering attack on Hillary Clinton and an appeal to Republicans to consider nominating a woman.

Staff writer John Gravois contributed to this report, which includes material from Bloomberg News and The Associated Press.

This story was originally published February 26, 2015 at 2:24 PM with the headline "Cruz fires up the faithful at conservative conference."